Slave Girl: Chapter 4 (Patreon)

In such a short time the woman’s curse had already tarred me.  She was the slave yet I felt like I was the one wearing chains.  Chains of iron that shackled me to her.  Yet chains I had forged with my own hands.  I could curse the fates all I wanted but it was me who signed those papers.

I let out a long breath and look around at the calm countryside around us.  It was so much easier to think out here.  I look down at the girl bowing at my feet.  “Stand.”

“I am sorry you didn’t realize what you were getting into Master.  I am sorry you don’t want me.  I’m sorry…”

“Stop.  Just stand up.”

“I beg, don’t beat me Master.”  She grips my ankles, her forehead still on top of my feet.  “Have pity.”

“I am not going to hurt you.”  I say softly.  Bending down I take her by the arms.  “Stand up.  Please.”

Her body relaxes to my gentle tone of voice.  She gets to her feet, allowing me to help her.  She looks ready to shield herself but she stands still as I mull over what to say.

“Like it or not…I guess we’re stuck with each other.”  I say.  “At least for now.”

She nods.  “Yes.”

“There’s nothing for it.”  I say.  “The past is gone.  I can learn from it but I cannot change it.  Regret and anger won’t help a damn thing.  All we can do is get on with living.”

“You’re a Stoic?”

This makes me chuckle.  “Just something my Dad used to say.”

“He sounds like a wise man.”

“He was.”  I say.  “I share his name, Quintus, though most people just call me Quin.  What’s your name?”

She hesitates and I catch her glance down to the flower on her branded hand.  “Rosa.  My name is Rosa.”

“Rosa?”  I say dubiously.  “It is not.”

“It is now.  My slave name is Rosa.”

There is both a sense sadness and relief in the way she gave herself a new name, a new identity, right here on the spot.  Her slave name she called it.  Not her new name, her slave name.  Insinuating that until now she had another name, a free name.  The realization dawns on me that, while she had had to endure a slave market, all of this was as new to her as it was to me.  It shook me deeply knowing that she had been a free woman until recently.  I weigh up whether to press her on telling me her true name but I saw no point in it.  I would allow her that dignity.  If I really needed to know it I could read my letter of ownership to find out.  If she wanted to be known as Rosa that was good enough for me.  Besides, it suited her.

“Very well Rosa.  Come along.”  Stepping to the side I invite her to walk along side of me.  She steps forward and we are on our way.  My steps are slower now to allow her to keep pace without so much effort.  With the understanding established we quickly fall back into silence as we walk along the famous Regina viarum.  As the light waned in the West we passed fewer and fewer travelers heading for the capital.  I could sense my slave’s wariness build as evening faded into the gloam of twilight.  She had ever so subtly begun to walker closer to my side and her head would dart to face any small noise from the grass or bushes along the edges.

“I’ve heard there are bandits that roam the Appian way.”  She whispers as if worried that her voice might carry too far.

“Yeah.”  I admit.  “But a penniless farmer boy and a slave girl are hardly a prime target.”

“What about monsters?”

“Monsters?”  I say.  She truly had no clue what it was like out here.  “Maybe when we’re crossing the Appenines, but not this close to Rome.”  

We walk on at her slow pace for a time in silence. I catch her occasionally glancing back to the city receding behind us then around for any signs of trouble.  Eventually she speaks again.  “How long are we going to walk tonight?”

“A few hours.”  I peek over at her and I could see she was fatiguing.

“I’m okay.”  She assures me, sensing my thoughts.

My eyes lower to see her toes poking out from under the cloak with each tired step.  If the soles of her feet were anything like her tender palms she would be feeling every grain and pebble she trod upon.  “Your feet?”

“Fine Master Quin.  I can keep up.”

“Hmm.”  I slow to a stop and turn my pack so that I wore it to the front.  Kneeling down I say.  “Climb on my back.”

“Climb…?”  She looks at me as if I were daft.  “You wish to carry me?”

“Yes.”

“A master doesn’t carry a slave.”

“You are slow and I have a strong back.  I want to put another few miles behind us before resting.”  I say.

“I’ll walk faster Master Quin.  You don’t need to do that.”

“Come on Rosa.  No arguments.”

Had she been less worn down by what had surely been a hell of a day she may have protested further.  As it was she looked perplexed yet relieved.  Coming around behind me she climbs up on my back and wraps her slender arms over my chest.  I support her legs with my hands and get back to my feet.  Compared to the fattened ewes I was accustomed to hoisting back on the family farm the petite Rosa was hardly an effort.  Not having to gauge my steps to hers any longer I pick up the pace with long powerful strides.

Having her head resting on my shoulder I could feel her hair, as soft as goose down, brushing against my neck.  I could smell her too.  The day she’d just had involved long hours under the hot sun, hours of stress from praying that she found a buyer so that she could live another day, a long bout of excruciating pain, all followed immediately by a long hike.  Layers of sweat had built up over the day and yet…she smelled nice.  At least to this farmer’s nose.  Her warmth and weight were pleasant to feel as well.  With her pressed tight against my back I could feel both of her small breasts pushing into me…as well as the bulge between her legs.  It was such a damn shame that a beautiful woman like Rosa, through no fault of her own, had to be ruined by such a curse of heritage.

Quietly she holds tight to me as we go, seeming much less nervous now.  I could feel her relax more with each step.  With a smooth steady gait I make good time along the moonlit road of flat interlocking stones.  It was maybe a mile later when I feel the body I was carrying gradually go limp.  Rosa’s head slumps to the side and one of her dull nubby horns jab into my jaw.  Exhausted as she was my slave had nodded off on my back.  Without missing a stride I lean forward a little more and center her weight so that she wouldn’t fall.  I had a goal in mind and it was just a bit further.

The physical effort felt good.  Moving, carrying a load, working toward a definite destination, these were the type of things I was built and raised for.  Perhaps too much so.  My grandfather worried that anything outside of simple labor was beyond me.  He worried about me trying to start and run a farm on my own.  But mother had faith in me and I had faith in myself.  With Ceres guiding me I could turn my hard work into success.  I would work my land, I would find a wife, I would start a family, and I would prosper.  I would do my father proud.  Although with the way I had just squandered the money of my inheritance perhaps grandpa had been onto something.  No matter.  One foot in front of the other.  Just keep moving forward.

By the time I was turning off of the main road onto the winding game trail to the camping spot I had in mind fatigue was starting to weigh on me as well.  Not from physical effort but from the stress and length of my day.  It doesn’t take long before I find the secluded little clearing among the bushes a short distance from a burbling stream.  The long grass was still flattened from my stay here the night before.

“Rosa.”  I say softly as I kneel down.  “We’re here.”

“Mmm?”  She surfaces and I feel her tense up momentarily as she gets her bearings.  “Oh!  I’m sorry.  I must have nodded off.”

“Understandable.”

She steps back from me rubbing her tired eyes then looks around the area more than a little confused.  “Here?  We’re resting here?  In the open?”

“Yes.”  I take off my bulky pack and set it down between us.  “There isn’t much food left but you’re welcome to it.  I’ll try to get us some fish in the morning.”  Pointing toward the sound of the nearby water I say.  “The water is clean and cool, if you’re thirsty or wish to soothe that burn.”

Her wide nervous eyes scan the bushes around us, her ears tilt and turn trying to pick up any odd noise.  In Luna’s pale glow everything is in soft shades of gray, even Rosa’s vibrant eyes were muted in the wan light.  Though all was quiet I could sense her fear.  She really was a creature of city comforts.

Reaching into the pack I pull out my sheepskin blanket.  “It is a mild night.  The cloak ought to be warm enough for you.”  I sit down in the grass and start to flatten out a wider area to lay down upon.  “Sleep as long as you can.  We have many miles to go.”

“Y-you want me to sleep on the ground?”  Just then there are a series of titters, like the tinkling of tiny bells, that ripple through the vegetation around us.  Rosa squeals and nearly jumps out of her cloak.  In the blink of an eye she is right beside me.  “What’s that!?”

“It’s just the nymphs.  Ignore them.  They’re harmless.”

“Nymphs?”  She spins to the left, trying to track the sound as it moves.  “They’re all around us!”

“You won’t see them.  They’re too fast.  They’re laughing.  They’ll be gone in a moment.”

“That isn’t laughter.  They’re angry.”  She says as she kneels beside me and clutches to my arm.  “We shouldn’t sleep here.  Maybe…maybe…maybe a farmer would let us stay…”

“Rosa.  We sleep here.”  I say firmly.  “The nymphs will move on soon.”  Even as I say the words their high chiming voices were already receding.  “See.”

Slowly her grip on my arms loosens and she sits back.  She nods uneasily though she continued to glance about the area as if a Gorgon might burst from vegetation at any moment.  I had no words to comfort her.  I couldn’t promise her that we were absolutely safe as there were potential dangers out here, wolves foremost among them.  The likelihood of experiencing any was very slim but not none.  This was simply a reality of the country and this city girl was going to have adapt if she was going to stay with me.

Rosa notices that I was on the verge of bedding down when she suddenly crawls in behind me and grabs my shoulders.  Her hands grip and knead the tense muscles on either side of my neck.  “Let me give you a massage before…”

Shrugging her away I look back at her annoyed.  “Get off me!”

“Master…”

“You!  There!”  I point to a spot just on the other side of the pack.  “Now!”

“But Master…I…we…”  She was grasping for something to say.  “W-we…should sleep together.  F-for warmth.  For safety.”  

“Together!?”  My eyes widen in shock.

“Don’t make me sleep alone.”  There is a long pause before she adds in a hushed tone.  “I will pleasure you Master.  In any way you wish.  Please let me lay with you tonight.”

I was glad it was so dark as the bright blush that was surely coloring my cheeks would have been visible a mile away.  In my embarrassment annoyance turns to anger.  “GO!”  My bellowing voice rings out in the night.  “THERE!”

“Yes Master!”  She scrambles away on all fours to the spot I pointed at.  Her body language is bent and submissive with her ears down like a guilty dog about to be whipped.  “I’m sorry.  I meant no offense.”

“Sleep!”

“Yes Master.”  She curls into a tight little ball and disappears inside of the large cloak, even pulling her head in through the neck hole so that she were completely inside of it.

I let out a huff and unfurl my blanket with a hard flap.  I lay down and turn my back to my impudent slave.  The nerve of her to suggest such a thing!  I am stewing as I settle in and close my eyes to try to get some sleep at least before the dawn.  We had days of hard travel in front of us and would need the rest.  As I lay there my anger cools and I find myself wishing I hadn’t shouted at her.  It was common knowledge that you had to be firm with slaves or they would become a problem…but raising my voice to a frightened woman wasn’t how I was raised.  It just didn’t sit right with me.

As I lay there struggling with my conscience I hear behind me, just barely, the muffled sobs of Rosa.

Chapter 5